Bale: I dream of titles

WHEN I was invited to guest edit The Sun, I was asked who I’d most like to
interview for Sport Relief.

I thought who better than Gareth Bale, the most expensive British footballer
of all time.

JAMES CORDEN: How is it — are you enjoying it out here?

GARETH BALE: It’s very nice. Obviously, you have the pressure of being at Real
Madrid. But it’s very enjoyable, we are winning a lot of games, doing well
at the moment, and the weather’s good on top of that.

JC: How have you adjusted to living here. Who have you got with you?

GB: I’ve got my immediate family with me — my girlfriend and my daughter — and
our friends come over a lot as well. The main thing was trying to get out of
the hotel straight away and into a house. Just to be able to relax in our
own private space and not have people always around.

GB: Yeah, it’s very nice. It’s got one outdoor pool and one indoor, so you can
swim in the winter.

JC: Sure, how can you survive, right? Do you look back on your time in
Wales and think: “How did I survive with just a bath?”

GB: I didn’t even bath, I just used to go outside. It just used to rain in
Wales.

JC: What’s the one thing you miss the most?

GB: Being close to your family. Knowing you can go down the road and be home.
Now, you have to get a flight.

JC: The saga of you signing took a lifetime. They were building a stage,
then taking it down. When they built that stage, were you thinking: “Oh,
what if they’re signing someone else?”

GB: It felt like a lifetime. I was hoping that stage was for me. The
negotiations went on and on. It wasn’t a normal transfer, it was the biggest
in the world. Those things take time, so I had to be patient. But it worked
out for the best.

JC: How are you told what the price is? Do you think: “Wow, that’s a lot of
money?”

GB: They obviously tell you but, for me, the price isn’t important.

JC: But how can it not be? Footballers say this all the time — “I don’t
even think about the price.” But there’s no way you can’t, no?

GB: You think about it but it’s not important. The most important thing is to
go out on the pitch and do what I do best.

JC: But for some players it seems to be a weight that they wear. Did you
not feel that?

GB: I honestly didn’t. I just wanted to focus on football. It was a bit
difficult at the start, not having a pre-season, but given time and being
able to get my fitness up, I felt no pressure. I could come into the team
and try to do my best.

JC: To be joining one of the biggest clubs in the world from one of the
worst clubs in the world, must be an amazing thing for you, right? I’m
joking, but how does it differ being at Real Madrid on a day-to-day basis?

GB: It’s massively different. At Madrid you’re under the microscope every
second of every day. Normally, the day before games, when the Press come to
watch training, at Tottenham there’d be a few cameras. But here there’s a
whole massive row watching your every move. You just feel the intensity of
the club.

JC: … in hell with him, yeah. I don’t even dislike Tottenham that much. I
just find it funny because I’m a West Ham fan and they’re the only team we
consistently beat.

GB: Not while I was there.

JC: No, you used to beat us on your own. The last time you played us was
the worst game in the history of Upton Park.

GB: That was one of my favourite games ever.

JC: It was amazing. You were incredible. That last season you played in the
Premier League, it felt like you could score at any time. Did you just look
around the team and think: “Oh all right, I’ll do it then?”

GB: I felt a little bit of responsibility knowing that I can get into
positions where I can score. Often, it came at the end of games when teams
were tired, and I still had the fitness levels to keep going.

JC: When was the moment when you thought: “Oh my God, I’m playing for Real
Madrid.” It was a dream of yours from when you were a kid. It’s not even
like you just play for them — they spent a massive amount of money on you.

GB: I try not to think like that, because you can kinda get lost. Yeah, I play
for Real Madrid, but I have a job to do, I need to keep improving. I don’t
want to get stuck in that hole of being excited about playing for Real
Madrid, with everything on top of you.

JC: What’s your ambition — to win the league, or to be the best player in
the world?

GB: Any player will tell you that they want to win trophies. Hopefully I can
be part of a team that wins many trophies. As for individual awards they’re
not too important.

JC: What do you do in your down time?

GB: When we don’t have a game for a few days here I relax outside by the pool,
and watch a bit of TV. But when I have some time I like to play a bit of
golf. The weather here is perfect so I try to play as much as I can.

JC: Why do all footballers say they like to play golf? None of them ever
go: “Oh, I really enjoy pottery.”

GB: I don’t know — it’s like an addiction. You can get away from everything,
there’s nobody on the course, no one can annoy you or be around you. You can
just relax with your friends and have a good fun round.

JC: How good are you at golf compared to football? If you’re a 10 at
football, where are you for golf?

GB: I’m probably about a five.

JC: Oh that’s good. Jamie Redknapp is insanely good at golf, which is
annoying.

GB: I hope to keep improving and get to that level.

JC: Do you still keep up with the Premier League?

GB: Yeah, I watch it as much as I can.

JC: Do you miss it at all?

GB: I wouldn’t say I miss it, but it’s different over here. There’s so much
going on in the Premier League. Everyone’s beating everybody and it’s
exciting to watch. I said at the start of the season Man City will win the
title and I’ll stick with that.

JC: You had a real connection with Tottenham fans. If Spurs reached the
Champions League by some miracle, and you played them, what reaction would
you hope for?

GB: I’d like to get a nice reaction. I don’t think I left on bad terms. It’d
be great to see them in the Champions League, and great to go back and play
against them.

JC: Are you sick of people asking you questions about Ronaldo? People seem
to want you to have some kind of beef with him. Have you felt that?

GB: When I first came here they made a lot about whether we might clash. But
we get on very well. We’re working well for the team, scoring and creating a
lot of goals together. I’m enjoying playing with him — he’s the world’s best
player, so how can you not enjoy it? From the moment I came to Madrid he’s
done nothing but help me and give me good advice.

JC: What advice has he given you? Where to get the back, sack and crack in
Madrid? Is his body ridiculously waxed?

GB: I don’t know. It’s not for me to comment on.

JC: But you’re always in the shower with him — you must know! I’ve seen him
when he wears those tiny pants on holiday. It’s an unnatural lack of hair.
Hasn’t the subject come up in the dressing room? Is he a shower man or a
bath man? What are you?

GB: I think it’s normal these days. He’s a shower man. I am too.

JC: OK, so you’re both in there — I don’t know if I could take my eyes off
his body, he’s completely sculptured, he’s like a Greek statue, no?

GB: He’s in very good shape, to be fair. He works very hard and I suppose
that’s what you get for working hard.

JC: We’ve got to get a penalty shootout in as well, so we’ll move on to the
quickfire round.

GB: England normally lose penalty shootouts.

JC: That’s because we get to international tournaments where you have to
take them. It must be an ambition to take Wales to the finals of an
international tournament, right?

GB: I haven’t thought about the World Cup this summer — I’ve been thinking
about my holidays. But, yeah, it hasn’t been done by Wales for a long time,
and now, when a few more teams get to qualify, that’ll make it a bit easier.

I’d love to go to a major tournament. It’s something every player wants to do.

We’re working hard so hopefully we can do what not many Wales teams have done
before.

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